The invention relates to a water-conducting household appliance, specifically a dishwasher, with a compartment that has a closable compartment opening, and with at least one washing device for generating at least one water jet within the compartment, as well as with at least one noise-damping means.
Water-conducting household appliances of the type mentioned in the introduction are known from the prior art. They comprise a compartment with a closable compartment opening through which items to be washed can be introduced into the interior of the compartment. For example, one or more water jets can be generated within the compartment by means of a washing device, and specifically by means of at least one spray arm of the washing device disposed rotatably in the compartment and enabling the items to be washed to be cleaned. As a result of its normally cubic external dimensions and lightweight structure, the compartment acts as a large resonance chamber that can be stimulated by sprays or jets of water striking its surface.
In the past few years there has been a trend towards designing kitchens as living areas. As a result, the acoustic requirements, in particular for water-conducting household appliances have changed. The practice of providing noise-damping means in order to meet these requirements is known. Moving parts such as circulation pumps, discharge pumps and valves produce noises that are transmitted through the air. Sound insulation is normally achieved by attaching bitumen matting to the exterior of the compartment, which is normally made of stainless steel. In addition, or independently thereof, noise-absorbing or noise-damping materials that absorb airborne sound energy and transform it into heat can be provided on the exterior of the compartment. Known water-conducting household appliances normally have flat, prefabricated matting made of cotton fiber combined with phenolic resin built in for this purpose. Polyester materials are also sometimes used as a means of sound insulation. The known means of sound insulation and/or noise damping are normally laid around the outside of the compartment, filling the area between the outer walls of the household appliance in question and the compartment. To reduce the vibration amplitudes of the metal parts, and in particular of the stainless steel compartment, polymer-modified bitumen matting with an adjusted loss factor is glued to the metal surfaces, normally with a hot-melt adhesive. The use of self-adhesive bitumen matting is also known. The insulating and/or sound/damping layers defined above are intended not only to reduce stimulation of vibration but also to have an anti-drumming effect on the metal parts.
However, a reduction in sound power radiation such as that described above is only possible to a limited extent. This is partly due to increases in volume of dishwasher compartments which, given that standard external measurements of water-conducting household appliances have remained the same, results in less installation space being available for sound insulation and/or noise damping. In addition, the energy consumption of modern water-conducting household appliances has been optimized due to sharply rising energy prices. Bitumen matting applied with adhesive has high thermal capacity and thus causes a certain amount of heat loss. This means that a compromise always has to be made between heat loss and sound insulation and/or noise damping.